I am beginning to think the Inspiration Studio software is kind of like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. Everytime I look in it, I pull something else out. What amazes me is that sometimes what I find is not really related to cutting at all.
Summer is just around the corner. That means vacations, gardening, camping, swimming and…… boredom. If you have children you know what I am talking about. Boredom is as inevitable as scraped knees and grass stains in the summer. It can be frustrating for moms, especially when their own time to craft and create is cut short. Just when you think you have a spare moment or two to craft, you hear “I’m bored, there’s nothing to do!” Of course, you can cut and create with the kids but that doesn’t leave you any time to work on those cards and scrapbook pages.
When boredom strikes why not have the kids create their own coloring pages by letting them choose images from the Craft Room library. Remove the color and print them out, give the kids crayons and let them color the afternoon away. (Ok- maybe you get an hour but that is more that you would have had otherwise, right?)
To make coloring pages:
1. Create a new page in the Inspiration Studio Software. Make sure you set the page size to 8.5″ x 11″.
2. Choose an image and open it on the new page. Enlarge to fit the page.
3. Select the image and remove the color by clicking on X under the B column in the color palette window.
4. Thicken the lines to about 0.04 using the slider in the color palette window.
You can change the line color to black or assign colored lines for each part so that the image is like a paint by number design. You can also add a small color image of the design in the corner of the page as a guide. Choose simple silhouette designs for younger kids and more complicated designs for older ones.
If the design is in layers you can simplify it for coloring by selecting the entire image and using the WYSIWYG function.
5. Finally, in the File menu choose Print Preview. You should double check that you have set your page size to 8.5″ x 11′. Also, make sure that you will not be printing parts of the image on an extra page. When satisfied, send the project to your printer by clicking on Print.
This idea is great for long car trips or airplane rides. The kids help create the coloring pages so are more motivated to color them as well. I also make coloring pages for my grandkids to use in chuch. Hmmm…I STILL like to color too! What images would I pick for my custom coloring book?
I agree- you could not have said it better! The Inspiration Studio is like Marry Poppins carpet bag… So much fun! This is an awesome idea…My twin 4 year olds love going trough my pazzles library to see everything….Thank You for sharing-
I actually did this idea when my grandkids were here visiting the first summer that I owned the Inspiration. They loved being able to pick out their own images. I also challenged them as well. In each area to be colored, I put an equation…or rather….I had my grandson do this for his sister. Each answer was assigned a different color. So, she had to answer the math problems to get the answer….and depending on the answer…that determined what color that area was supposed to be. You can do it with just about anything referring to math. Instead of paying for those books…you can make your own. They enjoyed it!
Love the bag!